Neuralink Corp., Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface startup, today announced that it has closed a $650 million funding round to support its research.

Semafor cited sources as saying that the Series E raise gives the company a pre-money valuation of $9 billion. That’s more than double what it was worth following its most recent funding round two years ago. The deal included the participation of about a dozen backers including Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed and Thrive Capital, one of OpenAI’s biggest investors.

Neuralink is developing an implant called the N1 that enables people with quadriplegia to control computers using their thoughts. The device, which is about the size of a coin, attaches to the patient’s brain via 1,024 thin electrodes. It’s powered by custom chips and an onboard battery that can be charged wirelessly.

Neuralink inserts the N1 using a custom surgical robot called the R1. The machine makes decisions based on data from five cameras and optical equipment that allows it to generate optical coherence tomography, or OTP, scans. OTP is a sensing method that uses near-infrared light to produce medical images.

Neuralink says that the N1 is currently used by five patients. The company has also disclosed that it’s developing two other implants designed to restore patients’ vision and speech, respectively. Little is known about the devices except that they have been accepted into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough Devices Program. The initiative accelerates the regulatory review of new medical devices.

Neuralink will use the proceeds from its latest funding round to finance its hardware development program. It plans to hire more engineers to accelerate the research effort. The company also detailed plans to expand patient access to its technology, which suggests it may seek to launch additional clinical trials or expand its existing ones. Neuralink is currently running clinical trials in partnership with three universities.

The company is one of several developing brain-computer interfaces. Synchron Inc., a Neuralink competitor backed by Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions fund, has developed a less invasive implant that is currently used by 10 patients. The company recently detailed plans to use artificial intelligence software from Nvidia Corp. to reduce the device’s latency. It’s reportedly also working with Apple Inc. to let patients control their iPhones using their thoughts.

Last month, another brain-computer interface startup called Starfish Neuroscience Inc. announced plans to introduce its first device by year’s end. According to The Verge, the implant is smaller than Neuralink’s N1 and doesn’t require an onboard battery. Starfish is reportedly also developing a number of other medical devices. 

Photo: NASA/Wikimedia Commons